EDIT: I got confused.
Its possible, alot of stuff is being moved on line, I believe if you live in England you can get sent PDF of new stuff, unlike in Scotland. No idea why the £3 is still in place as there no paper to be printed out. Part of the problem is Vosa if there did this wouldn't know who asking about stuff or how many people etc
With older content, I'll say this its very unlikely the older stuff has been put onto computer and most if were lucky have been put into cold storage if not one has to wonder if stuff hasn't been destroyed at least to stuff from 1996 and before.
Indeed, why should I pay for something they hold anyway, ought to require no administration / interpretation costs for me to select on-line, and is required to be submitted by law / regulation.
As you will know, If I put a company name into Companies House, I get everything attached to that company, free and without having to justify my reasons for wanting it or go through a time consuming FOI request.
I understand (from an article in Private Eye) that some companies / individuals want to restrict access to old company information and that Companies House are considering introducing a time limit for older documents.
Companies House have clearly scanned a lot of old documents which previously you had to pay for copies of. I guess old bus routes / timetables aren't as important as old company accounts (to most people anyway!) so wouldn't expect old stuff to be scanned and loaded for my casual pleasure.